Random 4v4, Dec 7, 2014

This film demonstrates one strategic error committed even by solid vets (veteran players). The error happens at the 7 minute 25 second mark. On the east side, Marduk (orange) and Swede (green) have finished taking their early indies and lairs ("creeping"). Next, they decide to attack their opponent Dark Arts (brown), together. What is their strategic error?

Marching off a long distance is almost always a wrong move to take, even if you have a solid partner. A number of important strategic issues need to be considered first, before you make that decision. What are the key problems?

1. First, too much time is lost. Your troops lose time marching to the target. Then, in the time traveling back home to heal, even more time is lost. In this same time, the enemy team defender heals more quickly, and can then attack or defend elsewhere while your troops are still healing. The enemy team can also leverage this "free time" they've gained, to aggressively increase their economies since they know they won't be attacked. Therefore, if you choose to use this strategy, be sure the gain is worth it (such as if you are razing a 4-slot indy building).

2. Second, marching a long distance to your target allows the defender to put up a two-tiered defensive engagement. The defender can engage your troops a short distance away from his village, but retreat after only a brief fight. That way, he gets to damage your attacking troops, but has some seconds to heal before putting up the true defense at the village. Especially with a healer goon against skels, this can be a deadly tactic. You can see Dark Arts (brown) do this at the 8 minute 11 second mark. See how after he engages, then retreats, Marduk's (orange) goon is depleted and some of Swede's (green) skeletons are hurt, but Dark Arts' Darya goon is mostly healed and ready for round 2 behind militia (Except that Dark Arts inexplicably engages Darya alone in front in the second round!).

3. Finally, of course, the defender can always use the scout dancing tactic to delay capture of the attacked village, and ultimately cause morale issues for your troops. In this case, Marduk and Swede were against Dark Arts, who is known to be skillful enough to apply the scout dancing tactic in defense. Marching off a long distance means your troops don't have a nearby zone of supply to rest and heal, and it is more likely victory will not be achieved at the target.

Swede would have been better off pressing over to the other side while Marduk holds a defense on the east side. Swede's skeletons can be applied across the very short distance to Bunger's (teal) main base on the west side, which is very close to Swede's teammates after they take their indies. At the same time, Marduk and Swede on the east side have a 4-slot Gauri indy, meaning they are de-facto winning already against Dark Arts over the long term. Of course, Swede must be able to trust in Marduk's defense ability.